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Israeli activists write “Gaza” in the sand with paper lanterns during a protest in solidarity with the residents of Gaza, Ashkelon beach, June 19, 2017. (Haidi Motola/Activestills.org)

Israeli activists release paper lanterns in solidarity with blacked-out Gaza, Ashkelon beach, June 19, 2017. (Haidi Motola/Activestills.org)

A Palestinian woman washes dishes by candlelight during a power outage in a makeshift home in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza, June 12, 2017. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israeli activists release paper lanterns in solidarity with blacked-out Gaza, Ashkelon beach, June 19, 2017. (Haidi Motola/Activestills.org)

Scene. Published by Maan News
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As the Israeli government begins implementing a decision to reduce the already insufficient electricity supply in Gaza, to just three hours a day, activists just across the border send a little symbolic light their way.

By Eli Bitan for 972Mag

After Israel announced that it had begun reducing the already insufficient electricity supply to Gaza on Monday, dozens of Israeli activists released 150 paper lanterns at Ashkelon beach, just north of the Strip, in solidarity with the residents of the besieged territory. Among the activists were Israeli residents who live in the towns surrounding Gaza, who joined the action to protest the potential humanitarian catastrophe on the other side of the fence.

The Israeli government announcement that it had begun reducing the electricity it sells to the Gaza Strip ostensibly fulfilled a request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said he was stopping to pay for the power Israel supplies to Gaza. The cuts would leave Gaza with around three hours of electricity a day.

According to Gisha, an Israeli legal NGO that focuses on Gaza, Israel has for years been selling 120 megawatts to Gaza — supplied through 10 power lines — with each line carrying 12 megawatts. On Monday morning, Israel cut supply on two lines from 12 to eight megawatts. Meanwhile, Israel continues to severely limit the import of generators and spare parts needed for their repair to Gaza, as well as import of transformers and equipment.

Last Wednesday, a coalition of 16 civil society organizations sent an urgent letter to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, emphasizing the unlawfulness of the cabinet decision to cut Gaza’s power supply under both Israeli and international law. The attorney general has yet to respond, and it is unknown whether there will be further reductions to the electricity supply.

This past week, over 3,200 activists called on Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to prevent an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip. Maayan Dak, campaign manager for Zazim, the Israeli NGO behind Monday night’s action, told Local Call: “It has been nearly three years since the last war, and Israel is still preventing replacement parts for Gaza’s power station, which it bombed in 2014, from entering the Strip. Millions of people are living with four hours of electricity a day, at best. We cannot let this continue.”

Eli Bitan is a journalist in the ultra-Orthodox press in Israel, and is a blogger on Local Call, where this post was first published in Hebrew. Read it here.
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Gaza planning demonstrations as Israel further cuts power supply

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- JUNE 20, 2017 10:43 A.M. (UPDATED: JUNE 20, 2017 9:32 P.M.)

Residents of the besieged Gaza Strip were planning demonstrations on Tuesday to denounce Israel’s recent reduction of power supply to the blockaded coastal enclave.

Israel started to reduce electricity supplies to Gaza on Monday at the request of the occupied West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA), despite being urged by humanitarian organizations not to implement the decision.

As a result, Gazans who had previously had electricity access for four hours a day saw their supply reduced by eight megawatts, providing only two to three hours of electricity on Monday, as the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) announced on Monday that it would further reduce the output of Israeli grids providing power to Gaza over coming days. Israeli NGO Gisha said that Monday's cuts reduced electricity supply by 6.7 percent.

On Tuesday, Gaza Electricity Distribution Corporation spokesman Muhammad Thabet told Ma'an that IEC reduced the power supply by 12 additional megawatts.

Tuesday's reduction affected two grids -- one known as the Sea Line which feeds the northern Gaza Strip, and one known as the Dome Line which feeds Gaza City -- with each line's output reduced by six megawatts.

The demonstrations are scheduled to take place at around 4:30 p.m. following afternoon prayers, along the borderline between Gaza and Israel, near Gaza City, al-Bureij refugee camp, and Rafah, spokesman for Gaza's national movement against the siege Mahmoud al-Ayla told Ma’an.

Al-Ayla accused Israel of imposing "collective punishment on Gaza residents."

Israel announced the decision to cut supplies last week, after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the PA would no longer pay the full amount of the monthly electricity bill, as both Israel and the PA have accused Hamas of collecting millions of shekels in taxes from Gazans every month without transferring the money to the PA.

Gaza, which marked its 10th year under Israeli blockade last week, has struggled for years with power shortages due to limited fuel access and degraded infrastructure.

A group of 16 civil society organizations urged the Israeli attorney general on Wednesday to reconsider limiting electricity output to Gaza, slamming the decision as “unrelated to concrete security needs” and “political in nature,” therefore in violation of international law.

No response was ever received, Gisha said in a statement Monday after the initial cuts were made to the electricity supply. "To make matters worse, Israel continues to severely limit entrance of generators and spare parts needed for their repair to Gaza, as well as entrance of transformers and equipment needed to repair an electricity network nearing collapse."

"Despite the warnings, the Security Cabinet’s disastrous decision was partially implemented today," the group said at the time, before the announcement of further cuts were made. "Once again we must caution: by reducing electricity supply to Gaza, Israel is knowingly aggravating an already dangerous situation in which the Strip is teetering on the verge of a humanitarian crisis -- and with implications for Israeli citizens as well."

"The consequences of a reduction in supply are likely to be devastating," Gisha wrote, and described the already dire situation in Gaza: "water desalination and sewage treatment facilities are not operational; some 100 million liters of untreated or partially treated sewage are being dumped mostly at sea daily; generators are over-extended; entire hospital wards are shut down during blackouts, and people who rely on life-saving equipment are at risk. All of this is expected to get even worse."

"Israel must immediately cancel reductions to electricity supply to Gaza and work instead to increase supply." the rights group said.

While UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the occupied Palestinian territory Robert Piper characterized the ever-worsening crisis in Gaza as “an internal Palestinian dispute” on Wednesday, rights groups have placed the bulk of the blame on the Israeli siege.

Israeli NGO B’Tselem blamed the blockade for putting Gaza “in the throes of a humanitarian disaster,” adding that Israel was “consigning (Gaza’s) residents to living in abject poverty under practically inhuman conditions unparalleled in the modern world.”

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